Chapter 37
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 37
Chapter Title: Unexpected Harvest
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An unexpected windfall.
I needed evidence to pressure Ian Pador, and here it was, plain as day.
This would be a weapon I could wield effectively down the line.
Perhaps even more valuable than taking down Nemet?
In the Pador family, Ian was the one shielded by trust as thick as castle walls.
To bring him down, evidence like this was essential.
Of course, just handwriting alone wouldn't be decisive proof, but hey, beggars can't be choosers.
Bits and pieces like this would accumulate, and someday, those walls would crumble.
More importantly...
"That's just like you, Ian... Honestly."
Ian had suspected me.
I thought I hadn't been caught, but Ian Pador had already sensed something was off.
Looks like I'd need to take some countermeasures.
Before that, though...
"You've had a rough time because of this worthless scum."
The pitiful people Nemet had called his masterpieces.
I needed to detoxify the poison binding these innocents like shackles.
I placed my hand on the praying boy's body and drew the poison from him into my own.
Using such filthy, vile poison on a child like this?
How much pain must he have endured?
Once I'd absorbed all the poison...
The boy's praying posture slackened.
The poison was neutralized, but his life had already ebbed away. Like a shed husk, his body gradually turned to ash.
I glanced at the boy's eyes.
They were filled with terror, like he was desperately searching for his mother...
I stroked the head of the boy turning to ash.
"It's okay now. No more suffering."
Tears seemed to well in the boy's eyes.
Then... he crumbled completely into ash.
I wonder if he went peacefully in the end.
I couldn't say.
All I could do was free him from eternal torment.
I went on to release the others one by one from their agony.
But...
"Too late, after all..."
The priest reading his scriptures also turned to ash and passed.
And not just him—everyone was already gone.
I was too late to save them. I knew that already, but...
I closed their eyes and paid my respects.
"Haa..."
At least I'd made Nemet suffer far worse before he died, so their resentment might have eased a little.
Finally, after handling the poison seeping from the old woman, I stood.
I offered a quiet moment of silence in my own way.
I didn't know how to pray.
I didn't believe in gods.
Seeking refuge from one's own weakness? How laughable.
But today, for these people—for those who believed—I'd offer a small prayer as comfort.
If it brought them peace, I'd gladly do it.
"Alright... time to sow some confusion among the enemy."
What poison masters prized most was when the victim never realized they'd been poisoned.
I needed to make the Evil Society fall for the misdirection too.
To do that, I'd create a completely unpredictable phantom foe...
What would work?
Murim's supreme masters flashed through my mind one by one.
As I pondered who to imitate...
"Deyan...?"
Merina cautiously descended the spiral stairs.
Aha...? No need to fabricate an enemy now. Seeing her sparked a perfect idea.
On top of that, Nemet's soliloquy came back to me.
—The princess will never become empress.
Fate, was it?
I'll change that fate myself.
I'll make that woman empress.
Merina was positioned to save the empire from the Evil Society's shadows.
But left as is, she'd end up in limbo.
The Evil Society wouldn't leave her alone.
I wouldn't allow that.
"That guy?"
Merina approached me, then gasped at the dying Nemet.
"Yeah, he was alive until just now."
"What the hell is all this? Explain yourself..."
"Before that, lend me your sword for a sec."
"Huh?"
I snatched Merina's sword. She would now... become the hero in my place. Nemet made an excellent sacrificial offering to crown her empress.
What swordsmanship would fool the Evil Society into overlooking me while earning Merina the empire's praise?
Let's see—Imperial secret sword arts as the setup?
Setting decided; now to unleash an obscure technique to match.
Conveniently, one came to mind.
I drew the blade and swung it through the chapel like painting a picture.
The sword slashed relentlessly across the chapel.
Shiiiiek!!
Finally, I cleanly severed the demon statue's head and returned the sword to Merina.
She blinked as she took it.
"Y-You know swordplay too?"
"Just imitating."
"What was that technique? What...?"
"What else? Imperial secret swordsmanship."
"What's that?!"
"Volcanic Sect's Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Sword Technique."
To be precise, just my imitation. True power required Volcanic inner arts.
Still, I'd mimicked it well enough. I'd scrapped endlessly with that sword sage from Volcanic every day.
If those Volcanic fools saw, they'd come charging with swords drawn for misusing their arts—but so what?
This was another world.
No way they'd track me here. Handy, in times like these.
"And what's that...?"
"The swordsmanship you'll learn."
"Wha...? What?!"
"Don't panic—tell everyone. The real culprit was here."
I slipped out of Nemet's poison den without lingering.
"Wait for me!"
Was it the eerie, ghost-haunted vibe? Merina hurriedly followed me out of the candle workshop.
I called out to Merina, who gripped her sword warily even after Nemet's death.
"Merina, call Vericht."
She flinched and edged away.
"Huh? Ghosts?! Ghosts?!"
Surprisingly timid?
Embarrassed by her fright, Merina cleared her throat and forced a serious expression.
"No need to worry. I already called him."
True to her word... the duke's knights were racing toward us from afar like madmen.
After Nemet was revealed as the culprit.
Vericht summoned Merina and me to his office.
"Nemet, of all people... the culprit."
From what the duke's retainers said, Nemet had been a diligent, kind young artisan at the candle workshop.
Diligent, with high-quality candles—he was one of Duke Christopher's favorites.
Tsk, poisoners were naturals at deception; that was child's play for Nemet.
He gulped down water, perhaps steeling himself from the shock.
"I never would have caught him alone. But how did you know he was the culprit? No."
Vericht asked Merina, then looked at me.
"How did you know?"
For the curious man, I explained in detail how we'd cornered Nemet. Vericht needed to know the truth.
He marveled endlessly, showering praise with every detail.
Once finished, Vericht apologized to me.
"No wonder Her Highness trusts you. Sorry for doubting."
"Right?"
Why are you answering that?
Merina puffed up proudly, chin raised, as if it were about her.
She continued...
"Vericht, going to the candle workshop wasn't my intuition—it was Deyan's orders. And he defeated the powerful foe inside."
She rattled off praise for me.
Vericht finally nodded, the oddity resolved.
"That explains it... something felt off."
He glanced sideways at me.
"As Her Highness says, you're truly enigmatic. You never know a person till you meet them—Mihail's descriptions never hinted at this."
Hm? Second brother?
"What did Second Brother say?"
Vericht coughed awkwardly, uncharacteristically.
"Well... ahem."
What the hell did that brother say to make him like this?
Bad premonition aside, I pressed Vericht.
"It's fine—just tell me."
Vericht turned away, muttering with another cough.
"Easy to tease... said you were a crybaby who bawls at a poke."
...I'm killing him. Mihail Pador...!
Right, he teased me mercilessly.
Playful Second Brother always picked on me, earning First Brother's scoldings every time.
This brother... no, this bastard?!
Reading my face, Vericht swiftly changed topics.
"Oh, he said something else."
"...?"
"He believes in you. Everyone sees you as a scrawny weakling, but he said you'd be the greatest among his siblings."
My fingertips twitched involuntarily.
Don't say needless things, brother.
That's why I followed Second Brother...
Unlike scary First Brother, he stayed by my side like a friend, always eager to show me the world.
Once, he snuck me out to see vast plains.
Really.
He believed in this worthless little brother that much?
"Talking about you, that guy never stopped grinning. Not just me—anyone who knows Mihail has heard of you. Especially that story about you fainting when you saw him disguised as a ghost... hilarious... Hm?"
Vericht's nonstop chatter halted.
Killing intent must have leaked out unwittingly.
I reflected on briefly thinking fondly of that man.
Scratch those thoughts.
I tried to hold back, but failed?
Can't be helped.
Master of insult and remedy. Spreading my embarrassments far and wide?
That scene still haunted me.
Of course I couldn't like him.
That bastard!
"Hoo, I've committed to memory what Second Brother told you, Vericht."
"Sounds like a misunderstanding."
"No, I get it perfectly. We'll settle it when we meet."
With my fists.
Siblings fight and brawl, right?
Of course, I'd repay every childhood torment with interest.
Perfect timing. I had something from the Tang Clan.
—Repay one mistake with tenfold!
Now I'd apply that iron rule to my brother unconditionally.
As I plotted dozens of ways to torment him...
"Now, to the main topic?"
Merina snapped me back.
"We've caught the culprit, but the duke still hasn't woken. That's the real issue."
Merina gazed worriedly out the window at the cityscape.
"Worse, rushing around to catch him means rumors will leak beyond the castle even if we silence them. Word will spread across the continent in no time."
She sees far.
All problems hinged on the duke waking.
Vericht lacked experience to rule the duchy fully.
But detoxifying the duke's poison was trivial for me, beyond the Threshold of Demons.
"Then let's go right now."
Merina and Vericht stared.
"Where?"
"To wake the duke, obviously?"
"And how?"
I just smiled and left the room, ignoring their questions.
Time to wake the high-and-mighty sleeping in?
The room where even breaths couldn't escape.
Around the duke's bed stood me, Merina, and Vericht.
Vericht swallowed nervously.
"How do you plan to treat him? Magic? Mystic herbs? Or..."
I shook my head.
Why bother? No need. Just place a hand, done.
"...?"
Vericht tilted his head as I laid my hand on the duke's chest. Merina whispered to him, fearing interruption.
"Some ritual before the holy act, like priests do."
"Ah, right."
Not that?
Just sucking out the entrenched poison.
A delicious meal for me.
I infused energy into his heart.
First, I scanned the duke's body. Poisons lurking in every corner.
Quality feast!
I drew them out with Ten Thousand Poisons Heavenly King Divine Art energy. The poisons resisted fiercely entering me.
But even their creator couldn't defy the art.
How could they escape?
Suuuuck...!
Slowly, the poison flowed into me.
As it piled neatly in my dantian, a smile formed...
"Why are you smiling?"
"Can't smile doing good work?"
Merina and Vericht's whispers reached me.
Not that, you guys!
Brief distraction let dormant poisons try slipping away.
No, no—my precious poisons.
After absorbing fully, I expelled useless impurities, refining the rest into pure inner force.
The poisoner had dosed the duke steadily, yielding a hefty haul.
Isn't the poison den and Nemet's enough?
Nonsense.
I'd have liked that, but breaking through Threshold of Demons with Ten Thousand Poisons Heavenly King Divine Art's second stage consumed most of Nemet's poison—only a tenth absorbed.
Threshold rebuilt weak flesh into perfect poisoner's body.
That demanded blood-like quantities of poison.
None left—all went to reconstruction.
So I need more, more!
More poison is always better...!
I sucked not just the deliberate poisons but accumulated impurities too, then withdrew my hand.
"Done."
"Done?"
"Done?"
"Yes, completely."
Pointing at the duke for the unbelievers.
Color returned to his pallid face.
"He'll wake in a few days."
"Ah... ah."
Vericht seized my hand.
"Thank you, so much... Thank you...!"
Overwrought, his massive frame shook.
"No big deal. Speak freely—you're my brother's friend."
"Right, right! Never thought I'd envy Mihail. You're like my own brother now."
Vericht beamed at the duke's improving color.
"Once Father wakes, we'll discuss your reward. Bigger than you imagine."
"Oh? I have something in mind. Hope you'll hear me out."
"Of course! Let's celebrate with a feast—spread the news. Oh! Tell Mihail too via letter. He'll be thrilled you're here."
"Works for me."
"I'll send a relay rider! Reply in days, guaranteed."
"Yes, yes."
Vericht turned to Merina.
"Your Highness, no more worries. How lonely you've been. Father will aid you once awake—he's that kind of man."
"I'm looking forward to it, Vericht."
"You two eat first."
"Join us, Vericht."
"I... can't relax till Father wakes. I'll stay."
"Ah... okay."
We left, closing the door for father and son time.
Merina smiled happily.
"Ha, the duke waking... What a relief. Now to stand against the empress from the palace..."
"No."
"Huh?"
Merina glanced over.
Spoiling the mood, but...
The Evil Society wouldn't let the princess off easy.
"Those who rely on others can never stand alone. You must be the focal point—with abilities everyone reveres."
I'll make her a sun they can't touch from the shadows.
Merina caught on, brightening.
"You mean teach me that swordsmanship from earlier?"
"Exactly."
To tread a thorny path, one must be strong themselves.
I'd create an heir even Volcanic wouldn't know.